Post-secondaries scramble in state of emergency, shut down campuses
Many questions remain as to how institutions will be able to enforce proof-of-vaccination
Article content
Calgary’s post-secondary schools have cancelled in-person classes for the remainder of the week, shutting down campuses as they scramble to respond to Alberta’s new state of emergency and confusion surrounding restrictions in the weeks ahead.
A directive from the province sent to all post-secondaries after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday says campuses can only reopen through the restrictions exemption program, which mandates proof of vaccines for anyone entering indoor spaces with high capacity.
“Post-secondaries across Alberta are now being asked to function like a business,” said Nicole Schmidt, president of the University of Calgary Students’ Union.
“They’ll need all students and staff to declare vaccination status, and only when that happens will they be able to proceed with on-campus events.”
U of C officials posted a statement on the school website saying classes will be back in session by Monday.
But questions remain as to how students will be able to access proof-of-vaccination through the province’s MyHealth records app, which has been overrun in recent days — at times with more than 100,000 people waiting in a queue.
Schmidt questions how U of C will even be able to properly enforce proof-of-vaccination, especially during peak times when thousands of students, staff and other members of the public are moving through buildings and lecture halls.
“Students are just so frustrated and disappointed with the government right now. They were really excited to have a normal school year, interacting with their peers and professors.
“But now there is just so much uncertainty. And students are the ones being punished.”
The U of C says its COVIDSafe Campus app has already been set up for vaccine mandates, but Schmidt said it only asks students to “declare” whether they are vaccinated, without proof.
“I have raised that as a concern, but have not really received a good response.”
As part of a long-awaited response to a surging fourth wave of COVID-19 in Alberta, the UCP government announced a series of new restrictions Wednesday evening, including limits on indoor gatherings and vaccine mandates for non-essential services, including businesses such as bars and restaurants.
In response, the U of C, Mount Royal University and SAIT all announced that they have shut down campuses and cancelled in-person classes until at least this weekend, to re-evaluate.
Online classes will continue, but there is no information as to what the rest of the semester will look like, particularly courses and labs that require in-person study.
Students argue that both the province and post-secondary officials spent the summer dragging their feet in an alarmingly slow response to growing cases of the highly-contagious Delta variant, which is proven to be more dangerous to younger populations.
“Students have a lot of two-fold anger right now. First with the provincial government’s complete and utter mishandling of the pandemic, knowing they had the data to fully predict and prevent this,” said Mateusz Salmassi, president of the U of C’s Faculty of Arts Students’ Association.
“But also, students are angry with the U of C for not preparing for the school year earlier, for not preparing hybrid learning earlier, for not putting in vaccine mandates until a few weeks ago, and for moving a bunch of courses online at the last minute.”
Salmassi said many international students are also regretting coming to campus now, worried that they wasted thousands of dollars in travel and accommodation expenses as more courses move online.
Students at MRU said they, too, are unclear over what a return to campus might look like, particularly under the restrictions exemptions program.
“We are really concerned about that, because we don’t operate like a typical business. We don’t have people slowly trickling in to our buildings, like a normal business,” said Rachel Timmermans, vice-president external for the MRU Students’ Association.
“We have thousands of students and staff walking around at peak times, especially in between classes. So how do you enforce that?”
Both U of C and MRU administrators had little to say Thursday about how they would ensure everyone on campus is actually vaccinated, providing only emailed statements.
“I recognize there are many questions with many unknowns. More information will be made available to students and employees before the end of the week,” said Tim Rahilly, president and vice-chancellor of Mount Royal University.
Even as the U of C announced that “in-person activity” will resume Monday, it would occur under “previously announced rules around mandatory masking, vaccination or enrolment in regular rapid testing.”
“In the coming days, all members of the University of Calgary community who have attested that they are vaccinated will be required to upload proof of vaccination using the COVIDSafe Campus systems,” said U of C president Ed McCauley.
But Health Minister Tyler Shandro cautioned Albertans on Wednesday, saying the AHS MyHealth records app could be overwhelmed.
NDP Advanced Education critic David Eggen said the UCP’s failure to act until the last minute has disrupted the lives of thousands of students across the province that were expecting to head back to class this week, in some cases informing students in the middle of the night that there are no classes today.
“The UCP has failed to lead throughout this pandemic, and during this fourth wave they’ve abdicated all responsibility for student safety to post-secondary institutions,” Eggen said.
“These institutions stepped up and implemented measures to keep students safe, and now they are scrambling to adapt to yet another failure of leadership from the province.”
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.